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Columbus & Greenville Railway
Greenville, Mississippi
Situated in the vicinity of the mighty Mississippi River and the border of Arkansas, the city of Greenville, Mississippi has a railroad legacy dating back to 1870 and the formation of the tiny Greenville, Deer Creek & Rolling Fork Railroad. By 1881, successor Greenville, Columbus & Birmingham had built from Greenville as far east as Indianola. Originally spanned with narrow gauge trackage, the lines of Greenville would eventually be standard-gauged with its connection to the Georgia Pacific Railroad as it expanded westward to the river. Neither the Georgia Pacific nor successor Southern Railway ever attempted with any success to ferry or span across the Mississippi River, making Greenville the western terminus of the east-west mainline that would eventually become the Columbus & Greenville.
Stations
The C&G has inhabited two Greenville stations over the years, one in the passenger era and another in the post-ICG freight era. Greenville being the terminus of the Southern Rwy in Mississippi, there was naturally a small terminal passenger depot in town to service westbound trains having completed their run. Use of the station as a terminus ended with the demise of passenger service in the late 1940s. In the mid 1970s, the C&G inhabited the small ex Illinois Central depot in Greenville for use as an office.
SRM crew poses in Greenville / 1916 / collection
Steam/motorcar meet / 1944 / Witbeck photo / collection
Greenville C&G depot / 1917 / Saillard collection
Greenville depot area / 1936 / collection
Ex C&G depot, later restaurant / Mar 1981 / Saillard photo / collection
Caboose depot / 1980 / Saillard photo / collection
Ex IC depot, now CAGY office / Jul 1989 / both JCH
Geep idle outside CAGY office / Jul 1989 / JCH
Yard area
Notes on yard area / 1972 / JCH
Yard area / Jul 1972 / JCH
Whitcomb and EMD power in yard / Jul 1972 / JCH
Rolling stock in yard / Jul 1972 / JCH
Baldwins leaving Greenville / unknown / Saillard photo / collection
Leads at eastern end of yard / Jul 1989 / RWH
Switching action in yard / Jul 1989 / both RWH
Spotlight: Baldwin #606
In the summer of 1989, dad and I crawled all over the city of Greenville--our final spot on a multi-day trek across the Delta Route from east to west. We photographed switching action in the yard, the engine servicing area, and the ex Illinois Central depot in town. Dad had covered the same ground in the early 1970s, so he was anxious to get around and see what had changed in 15 years. While poking around some industrial sites, we stumbled upon Baldwin #606 shoved down a grass-covered spur. Weeds and trees were growing up all around her, but closer inspection revealed that -- cosmetically, at least -- she was not in too bad a shape. The prime mover had been removed, and some ragged holes had been torched into the long hood. The blue and white paint scheme of the post-ICG Columbus & Greenville was still in decent shape, and stenciled on her cab was the name "City of Moorhead." Below the engine number, the cab read "Where the Southern crossed the Yellow Dog."
It was a less than glorious retirement for a workhorse of a road switcher, one of only twenty-one AS-416 models built by the forces in Philadelphia and the last of a small stable of 6-axle Baldwins that helped to secure a place for the little C&G in the pantheon of great Deep South shortlines. Thirty-eight years had passed since her arrival in Columbus, but the torch marks and the trees growing up under the walkways made it clear that her days of shuffling cars in the Delta and building trains #51 and 52 had come to close.
We spent that entire morning in Greenville under cloudy gray skies.
Upon discovering 606 shoved in the weeds, I knew why.
